Consumers have felt the crunch of an uncertain economy in recent years. And as they look for new ways to save, credit card companies have adjusted TV advertising approaches as well – focusing on benefits such as cash back rewards and low interest rates, based on noticeable shifts in recent creative approaches.
iSpot data shows that the credit card industry had 9.79 billion household TV ad impressions served from Jan. 1 – Mar. 15, 2023. That’s a 23% decrease year-over-year, due in large part to the absence of the Winter Olympics in 2023 (which accounted for nearly 1 billion household TV ad impressions for credit card brands in 2022).
Visa, a big Olympics sponsor, accounted for all credit card ad impressions during the winter event in 2022. Visa typically focuses its TV buys on tentpole sporting events, as the Olympics, NFL and World Cup have delivered over three quarters of the brand’s TV ad impressions since the start of 2021. Without as many of those opportunities in early 2023, Visa accounts for a lesser share (2%) of credit card ad impressions so far. Past trends indicate the industry giant won’t have another big advertising push until football returns in the fall.
In the meantime, other credit card brands have been busy this year emphasizing savings and rewards. Two of the most-liked credit card spots of 2023, Chase’s “Get Your Bags Packing for Some Travel Cashbacking” and Discover’s “Cash Back Match”, highlight getting customers cash back for purchases. Viewers enjoyed the heavy use of celebrities for Chase’s ad (Kevin Hart) and Capital One’s “On The Road Again” (an ensemble cast of Samuel L. Jackson, Charles Barkley, Jennifer Garner, Willie Nelson, Spike Lee and Jim Nantz).
Take a look at this infographic to see how credit card brands are handling TV ads in 2023 to make media and creative investments count:
*Glossary:
- Verified Household Ad Impressions: TV ad exposures captured across 52 million smart TVs and set-top boxes which are extrapolated and balanced with census data for an accurate representation of US households.
- Impressions SOV (Share of Voice): The percentage of impressions generated by a brand or ad compared to the total impressions generated by the selected criteria.
- Likeability Score: Measures an ad’s ability to appeal to viewers, based on results from the survey prompt: “I like this ad.”
- Audio, Funny and Value are 3 of the 57 emotional metrics iSpot Creative Assessment measures for every TV and video ad.